White-tail spider in my track suit pants WHICH I WAS WEARING! I thought it was a lump of lint from the laundry, drew it out, and promptly flung it across the room once I realised... never to be seen again! How it didn't bite me and sat still to be picked up, I don't know - it must have known I wouldn't do it any harm. We lived in lots of country places, too... We were invaded by small black crickets one year, and lady bugs, another year, in your drawers, in your hair, in your pantry, in your undies... everywhere! And then the blue tongue lizard that would go in and out with our dogs via doggie door, and made itself a nest in our laundry... I gave up and left some old towels for it. Had an echidna get up into the wheel well of our car... wild brumbies in our patio... the list goes on. My husband still says that the most unwelcome visitor was his mother... I like her better than he does!

Thank you so much for your kind words, everyone. Houzz never ceases to delight, I am so glad I began this renovation even though it was an incredibly stressful journey at the time!! Here are a few more pics taken over the last 2 years.

No worries. To get your ideas across you can check dilemmas and suggest ideas and even products if applicable. Great way to get yourself known.

1. I'd probably start with removing the ornate lines on the gables. It seems a bit 'busy' and dated with the brick and gutters. 2. I'd also paint/replace the gutters to match the roof colour or even the garage door colour. Gutters aren't an architectural feature, so no idea why they are terracotta. These 2 things will calm it all down. You could consider texture-coating the board of the upper storey. It's a colour-embedded acrylic render. No painting for 25yr. It gives you the look of render, and can go straight onto board like you have. Unless you have rot or other maintenance issues with it that you need to replace it.